​I'm not a big sports fan, but when I find myself watching the game, I often root for the underdog. Watching director (and former roadie) Sacha Gervasi's 2008 documentary about his beloved, yet down-on-their luck Canadian metal band Anvil extracted a similar emotional response: here was a group who toured with Bon Jovi, Whitesnake, and The Scorpions in the early '80s and influenced everyone from Metallica to Anthrax, but in spite of all their heart, stamina, and big hair, never achieved the lasting success of their contemporaries. Their 14th LP Juggernaut of Justice was released last year, and while it hardly captures the metal one-two punch of 1982's Metal on Metal and 1983's Forged in Fire--widely considered their best--the thought that the band's back on the road, rocking out, and making the music they love brings a bit of mist to the eye.

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A book I should probably have already read. (Feel free to loan me a copy.)

​I know getting annoyed about MXPX in 2011 is like still complaining about the speed of AOL dial-up, but reading Dave Lake's nicely reported music lead this week about MagnifiedxPlaidx frontman Mike Herrera's second act as an alt-country singer (MXPX's Mike Herrera: Still Punk), I was reminded of an old pet peeve: the idea that there's anything "punk" about "Christian values."

Despite what your "cool" tribal-tattooed, body-pierced youth pastor might tell you, good Christian values are the antithesis of punk. Punk is at its essence nothing if not anti-authoritarian, whereas religion (to this outside observer) seems to be about submitting to authority, both in the abstract form and (usually, the odd lone spiritual seeker aside) in the very real form of church hierarchy. Punk rock is middle fingers, not praying hands--the only crosses you see in punk should be upside-down ones.

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I missed this news item last week, but a friend brought it to my attention over the weekend: Parenthetical Girls frontman Zac Pennington and Dead Science maestro Sam Mickens are joining Jamie Stewart's gut-spilling shame-core act Xiu Xiu. This is monumental! These guys are like the Crosby, Stills, and Nash of Seattle-affiliated creepiness! (I haven't thought this analogy out far enough for a Young analogy, so don't ask.) Mickens, Pennington, and Stewart have all done varying lengths of time in Seattle, and have previously collaborated on each others' projects, and, frankly, they're all creeps. At least on record. Maybe sometimes in person, too. (Have you ever talked to Sam Mickens? He's all slicked hair and black suits, and sometimes he seems like he might shiv you out of nowhere. He may be carrying a sword-cane right now.) They sing about depravity and debasements, and revel in grotesquerie and overly public emotional pain. There's androgyny and sexual abuse and self-abuse. Shock and ewwwwwww. And the three of them doing it together (along with Xiu Xiu's present musical backbone, Angela Seo and drummer Ches Smith)? Good times!

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13-Point Program to Destroy Conventional Weddings

​(With respect to Hipster Runoff)

1. Tattoos flowering out the back of the wedding dress.

2. Photo wall made of Xeroxed punk/hardcore album covers (Tragedy. Slapshot? Nation of Ulysses!).

3. A member of the Vivian Girls is in attendance.

4. Bridal procession to a Mark Kozelek cover of AC/DC's "Love at First Feel."

5. At least one bridesmaid doesn't know how to walk in heels, has to look at feet during procession.

6. Belle & Sebastian played on the PA during the dinner portion of the evening.

7. People skanking to Operation Ivy during the dancing portion.

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Leave aside for a moment that the band Bad Company was a supergroup consisting of members of Mott the Hoople and King Crimson, the fact is that like a lot of acts from the pre-video age, they didn't look as "bad" as they sounded.

They don't look like bad company, they seem like nice fellows.

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​Intelligent people can argue in good faith about economics, but I don't think there's any argument that conservatives should stay out of the music business. This is a nice example of what's in store for the world of entertainment if the cultural conservatives succeed in legislating what's "appropriate" in arts and entertainment.

The Jeez!

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The founders of this increasingly recognized "holiday" have gone all cerebral on our asses this year, assembling a panel of academically-inclined experts--including Steve Waksman, author of This Ain't the Summer of Love: Conflict and Crossover in Heavy Metal and Punk --to analyze the impact of what a holiday oriented around Tom Araya and company really means to culture in general.

If you're a geek like me, it's an interesting read (albeit one driven by a periodically convoluted line of questioning), but if you don't have the patience for that, just watch this:

Slayer play Seattle's WaMu Theater with Megadeth this September 3. Tickets over here.

There are two other very good reasons nearly every metal fan I know plans on hitting Neumos tonight (namely Earth and the Low Hums), but what I'm most excited about is Wolves in the Throne Room. I've never seen them live, but I've heard almost nothing but raves from people who have. This is an older clip of them opening for Isis in Portland a few years back:

Local drone-driven stalwarts Earth (see Brian Barr's excellent piece on their collaboration with Jesse Sykes and the Sweet Hereafter over here) play Neumos tomorrow night with Olympia's mighty Wolves in the Throne Room and newcomers the Low Hums. You can buy tickets over here.

As I mentioned in my column this week, Audrey Ewell and Aaron Aites's morbidly intriguing documentary on the Norwegian black metal scene opens this week at the Grand Illusion. Friday's 8 pm showing will be followed by a set from local grindcore act the Abodox; here's the trailer for Until the Light Takes Us: